Hiya people! Sorry I've been so long updating, I had writers block for ages and then went all screwy and I couldn't upload documents but as you can see, it's all fixed! Thanks to everyone who reviewed; it's really inspiring to know people take the time to read my fic!
Chibi Hime- Lol, the film rocked! OK, I thought the story line was crap, the Brides annoyed me, Anna's speech about the sea and the ending with her in the sky were weird and clichéd but hey, it still rocked and Dracula was great! Oooh! I'm jealous! I want the action figure :)
Saraqueenofallthings- Thank you! Here you are, the next chapter!
Insane Dragoness- Lol, thank you! I see that you live up to the first part of your name :)
Katca Mcadar- Lol, as no doubt you will have noticed I did not set Dracula on you. If I did that, how could you review me again :) Thanks Kat for both your reviews! And just you keep crying! When I eventually finish this people will understand why you cry!
Ok, here you go people, chapter 4!
CHAPTER 4- BREATHE
Annora awoke around midday to the sound of heavy knocking on the oak door leading to the corridor and the rest of the house. She groaned and threw her pillow over her head to block out the noise. When it persisted she gave a noise of annoyance and clambered out of bed, pulled on her dressing gown and attacked her hair with a comb. Then she wrenched open the door.
"What is it?" she began crossly and then stopped abruptly at the sight of her father and Joshua Burrard standing in the hallway. Joshua had been visiting her everyday and she had forgotten that he visited early on Wednesdays.
"Annora! You aren't dressed!" her father exclaimed, pulling her out in front of Joshua who did not seem to care about her lack of decency.
"I have only just got out of bed." Annora tried not to sound reproachful but her face must have given her away because Joshua took her hand and kissed it saying, "My apologies. I have come to make a request, Miss Osmond."
Annora looked blankly at her father who frowned at her and motioned for Joshua to continue.
"Yes, I would like to speak with you, in private if I may?" Joshua continued.
"Oh," she said, surprised. "Yes...of... of course. I will just get dressed and then perhaps we should go to the orchard? It is lovely this time of year." Small talk. Pathetic really.
"That would be wonderful," Joshua gave her a smile and Annora nodded in reply, backed into her room, shut her door and gave a sigh of relief. Then she dressed herself, despite the protests of her maid, Eve. She found her hands shaking as she tightened her corset, gasping as she wrenched her waist into an excruciatingly slender shape. Just breathe, she told herself. Breathe… Joshua was a very attractive young man and Annora found his smile made her blush a little. But good-looking or not, Joshua didn't have what Annora needed. He was nice enough when it suited him but the truth was Joshua wasn't in love with her; he simply saw her as a suitable wife. Annora let out another noise of annoyance as she thought over how stupid society was. If people were more concerned about love and happiness instead of reputation and money then she might not have to marry Joshua. Besides, he drank too much. People tried to cover his drunken episodes up by pretending that they never happened but Annora knew the truth. Joshua could be extremely cruel and violent when drunk.
Annora cursed as her fingers slipped on the brooch she was attaching to her chest and pricked her finger. She watched the blood swell and trickle down her finger and then wiped it on her handkerchief with a sigh. The pin had dug deeply and her finger was throbbing. Annora ignored it and picked up her fan then she turned to the mirror. She was startled by the change in her reflection. Her complexion, which was naturally pale, looked waxy and unhealthily white. She had deep purple shadow under her eyes from sleep deprivation. Her figure which, though had always been slim, was nothing short of bony. Annora guessed she had lost weight as result of all the stress of preparing for the marriage. Annora grabbed her parasol because her skin burned very easily and it was noon after all. She squared her shoulders, lifted her chin up grandly and marched out of her room. She didn't look particularly lovely today but, to be frank, she didn't care.
Annora made her way down to the orchard and paused for a moment, dropped the parasol for a minute and stood still, relishing the bright sunshine, savouring the warmth on her skin. It was a welcome change from the dark beauty of night. She stood there, breathing in the delicious scent of summer and then she lifted her parasol again and headed towards Joshua who stood under the dappled light of the sun streaming through the apple trees, fiddling with his hat. The bees and wasps hummed busily as they sucked at the sweet sticky juices of the fallen fruit. The whole place seemed calm and tranquil. Then Joshua looked up at her and Annora saw he looked sad and more than a little angry. Warning bells began to ring in her head. She knew Joshua had a very violent temper when he was drunk and wondered if this extended to when he was sober. As soon as he saw her approaching he began to speak.
"I understand that you are tired Miss Osmond so I will be blunt. I have reason to believe you are seeing another man."
Annora had not been expecting this. She gave a double take and blinked stupidly at him.
"Excuse me?"
"Please, Annora, do not take me for a fool. I saw a gentleman enter your chamber with you in his arms last night. Now if this man is just a figment of my imagination, then please, confirm it because I would hate to believe that my future wife is unfaithful even before marriage!"
Annora didn't know what to say. Should she deny that she had ever met the Count or just tell Joshua the truth? Aware that every minute she hesitated she looked more suspicious Annora decided to lie. After all, she didn't want the Count to be the victim of a flaming mob. Although, she thought wryly, he could easily escape in that hideous form.
"What, Miss Osmond, were you doing in the arms of another man? And why was he entering your chamber?" Joshua asked, his voice a little harsher and a great deal less courteous.
"I have no idea of whom you speak Mr Burrard," she said coolly. "Maybe you have been drinking too heavily again."
Joshua flushed in anger and Annora felt guilty. It was unfair to remind him of his drinking habit and then use it falsely against him simply to save the reputation of a man who murdered others to stay alive. Where was the sense in her actions there? It certainly didn't fit in with her morals. Her thoughts were cut short by Joshua's reply.
"I assure you I was thinking very clearly when I saw you last night." Joshua looked very angry and Annora decided to come clean before she dug herself into a deeper hole. She would tell the truth or at least, a little of it. White lies, Annora thanked God for them.
"The gentleman you saw," she said wearily, "is an acquaintance of mine. He happened to find me asleep on the ground with a twisted ankle, having taken a moonlit walk, and he kindly returned me to my chamber."
"But why to your chamber, Annora? Why did he not alert the household and leave you with them?"
"To save both our reputations he did not return me to the front door but left me in my room where we hoped no one had seen us because they would get the wrong impression, as you clearly have, as to why he was carrying me." Annora was thinking fast on her feet and she had to hope that she sounded convincing enough to fool Joshua. He turned away so that Annora couldn't see his face. She bit her lip and tried to think of a way to wriggle out of the situation. Before she could say anything Joshua turned around again and said, "I think you should go to confession and ask God to forgive your sins."
"I haven't done anything wrong!" she exclaimed, annoyed. "I am not going to confess sins I have not committed just because you won't believe me!"
"Then I am afraid I will have to call off the marriage."
"Well, dishonour my name by all accounts but think of my father! Just think how much that would disgrace him! And all because you are too stubborn to accept that I have not committed adultery!"
"Do you really expect me to believe that? Do you honestly think that I am so blind as to not notice the shadows under your eyes? You have not been sleeping at night, Annora, and any fool can guess why and, my dear girl, I don't even have to guess! I have seen the evidence with my own eyes! Now you have two choices: you can go and confess your sins to a priest or you can bring disgrace to your family name and break off the marriage."
Annora was shaking with anger. Ladies did not lose their temper and they put their family name above all else but Annora seemed to have forgotten how to behave like a lady. She glared back at her fiancé, opened her mouth and yelled at him. She shouted indignation, raged injustice and defended her innocence, reputation and dignity. Joshua stood rooted to the spot, stunned at Annora's lack of ladylike submission and then he too began to shout. The servants came running and gasped in shock as they arrived just in time to hear Joshua call Annora a harlot and see Annora slap Joshua hard across the face. It was the final straw. Joshua hit her back. Annora thumped him with her parasol. Hard. In a place that women are not supposed to know about. Joshua went pale from pain and shock and there was a wringing silence throughout the orchard. Even the bees seemed to stop buzzing. Then Joshua placed his hat back on his head and walked crookedly past Annora without looking at her.
"I will inform the priest that the marriage will not be going ahead tomorrow. I suggest you explain to your father what the circumstances are and how they arose. I am sorry that it has ended like this Annora but I see now that you need a stronger man than I to keep your temper in check and remind you of your place and duty as a wife."
Then he walked on. The servants who had gathered gazed at their mistress, most in disapproval, others in admiration but all in shock. Who would have thought that quiet, polite Miss Annora was capable of such a temper? Eve, who had watched the whole thing from then doorway, came and led gently Annora into the house. She was still shaking but she held her head up high and walked into the house gritting her teeth, ready for the argument with her father that would ensue.
And an argument followed indeed. Annora and her father blazed at each other and he had struck her in rage across the side of her face that Joshua hadn't hit. This had merely made Annora even angrier. The yells and screams subsided after half an hour. One minute Annora was screaming at her father in the most disrespectful manner and then a sudden, chilling silence. Annora left the room a few minutes later, her face set and her eyes grim.
"He's disowned her!" whispered Eve after much pressure from her fellow workers. "She's got until midnight to leave the house and he won't let her take anything with her. The only option she's got is to go to the workhouse or sell herself. He says after midnight he will call the local magistrate and hand her over accused of you-know-what before marriage."
Annora didn't leave her room for the rest of the day. Her father had called a carriage to arrive at ten and then she would have to make her way alone in life. She had thought over the options she had and the only two options were extremely unfavourable. The workhouse or… She shuddered at the thought of selling her body and turned her mind instead to where she would go once she was out of town. The sun set at nine and Annora had the few possessions she had been permitted to take in a small bag ready on her bed. She had shed hot tears of rage and misery earlier but now she was too numb and depressed to cry any longer. She simply lay on her bed staring into space, breathing slowly, feeling every breath in and letting it out again with a sigh. She didn't notice the figure standing by the bed until he spoke.
"Good evening," Dracula gave his usual bow. Annora didn't even glance at him. She simply pretended he wasn't there. Dracula confirmed her suspicions that he had already heard of the situation because he said, "I'm sorry that you should come to such grief because of me."
Annora didn't reply. Dracula turned to leave and she cleared throat and said thickly, "Please, don't leave." Her voice was hoarse and she didn't look particularly attractive. Her skin was scarlet with sunburn from where she had dropped her parasol to shout at Joshua and the freckles sprinkled across the bridge her nose, which were normally faint, were now very obvious. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen from crying and she still had dark rings around them. Two large deep purple bruises had darkened on her face and all in all, she looked a sorry state.
"I'm sorry," she said, "I just don't really feel like talking much."
"Is there anything I can do for you?" the Count asked.
"Unless you can turn back time..." she attempted a smile and only succeeded in a sort of grimace. She went back to staring at the ceiling. Dracula thought it was more of a glare. In fact Annora was imagining that she could burn things with a glance and was pretending Joshua and her father were on the ceiling.
"This is a man's world." she said suddenly, "I'm never going to win this battle."
"What battle might that be?"
"To live," she said simply. Dracula wasn't sure exactly what Annora meant by that but he had a suspicion that they were not so different in their wishes as it would first seem.
"Would you come back with me to my castle in Transylvania?" He said, pressing her with his eyes. He was giving her that Look. A deep, intense gaze, his eyes almost hypnotic. It was the Look that had persuaded many to do his will and seduced even the strongest women within a few moments. Annora shut her eyes refusing to be swayed by the intensity of his gaze and pretended to think about it.
"People will think I have eloped and my father would be further stripped of any dignity and respect I have not already taken. I do not want to bring him to greater grief. "
"Are you always going to put your father's reputation before yourself? He is already a disgraced man. Nothing you can do now would redeem his reputation. Or yours." he added.
"It would only back up the story of my alleged adultery," she replied bitterly. "Besides it would damage your reputation as well."
The Count gave a hollow laugh.
"My reputation is already black," he reminded her dryly. "But I will not inflict further damage to yours or your father's."
Annora finally looked at him properly. She gave him a faint smile and quietly uttered the words, "thank you."
Dracula didn't say anything but he gave her another penetrating stare that made her shiver. Annora pretended it was because she was cold and Dracula, satisfied by this reaction, turned up the intensity of it. Then he said smoothly, "Your carriage had arrived." He didn't even turn his head. Annora swung herself of the bed and walked out onto the balcony. She called down to the driver, "I'll be there in a minute," and turned back indoors.
"I'm going to change my clothes," she explained, she still sounded miserable. "I don't want to be dressed in my best clothes if I'm living in the ditch. I may be able to sell this dress anyway, it's very well made."
She went to her wardrobe and pulled out a red bodice, a white silk gown to go under it and pair of matching scarlet shoes. Then she sighed. "Whore's colours," she muttered to herself and then remembering the Count, turned and looked pointedly at him.
"I will leave you to dress. Shall I call for your maid?" he asked waving a gloved hand in the direction of the door. Gloves in summer? Annora thought numbly, how strange.
"No, I've already said farewell to her and she went home hours ago." Annora shook herself out of her daze and looked at him sadly. So, thought the vampire, we come at last to the inevitable.
"And now I suppose it's farewell to you too." Annora looked sad but Dracula knew that it was nothing compare to the piercing disappointment welling up inside his heart. Their parting was bitter and Dracula wondered if he should force Annora to come with him to Transylvania. He decided not to, after all, there were plenty more women in the world more attractive than Annora. He pulled off his gloves and stowed them in a pocket, he wanted to touch her with his bare skin before he departed.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save your soul," said Annora at last. "You've done so much to help me and I have failed you."
"It was a hopeless case." Dracula shrugged and made a matching face. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"God will look after me. I'll manage, somehow."
And now they came to the finale. Dracula took Annora's hand and for politeness sake she suppressed the shudder as his skin came into contact with hers. She looked into his eyes and lurking in their depths she could see it; the monster that slaughtered men and women and children. A ruthless creature, slave to the bloodlust. The Count kissed her hand and gazing back into her eyes he could see a shadow of fear behind her them and he knew she would always be afraid of the vampire inside him.
Then he walked out onto the balcony. He reached the edge and stepped up onto the wall. Then he turned and bowed to Annora. Then he leapt into the air and landed gracefully on the ground beside the oak tree out of sight of the carriage. He brushed the elegant strands of dark hair out of his eyes and turning, headed towards the crumbling, ruined house to collect his cloak. He made up his mind to head back to Romania immediately. There was nothing worth staying in England for. He couldn't follow Annora, she would be arrested on grounds of adultery and he would be the evidence.
Annora watched the Count until he vanished from sight and then dressed herself. She dabbed cold water onto her swollen eyes and bruises. Then she collected her bag and opened her bedroom door. She made her way through the silent house, the air seemed heavy, she could almost feel her father's cold disgust at his daughter alleged affair radiating out of his study. Annora held her head high proudly, refusing to let the tears spill and stepped out into the night. She turned with a gasp of shock to find a large crowd waiting for her, eerily silent. They were holding torches and pitchforks. Despite the fear that was beginning to freeze her heart she was puzzled. Pitchforks? What did they need pitchforks for?
"There she is! There's the witch!" the small boy squeaked.
"Witch?" Annora had never felt so bemused.
"I saw you with your demon last night! It was flying across the sky with you in its arms!" the little boy smiled up at Joshua Burrard. Joshua secretively handed him a silver piece and whispered, "Don't be afraid. Tell everyone what you saw". Annora's eyes grew wide and she felt disgust and shock beginning to thaw out the horror inside. She was about to yell at him again when the mob advanced. So instead, for once, she did the sensible thing; she shut her mouth and ran.
She had no idea what she would do, where she would go. Her breath was catching in her chest, young ladies were not expected to run at all, the night was hot and she was wearing a corset. The mob was gaining on her, she would never out run it. She screamed as a pitchfork narrowly missed her and stumbled blindly onwards. So that was what pitchforks were used for... The second pitchfork was aimed better and this time it scraped along her arm. She gasped in shock and staggered heavily as it punctured her skin and tore deeply through the flesh. It bled freely. Now she was out of breath, out of energy, feeling giddy because of the heat and she was losing blood at an alarming rate. She began to slow down and although she urged her flagging limbs onwards she knew that it was hopeless. It would all be over soon, she would be caught, taken to the local magistrate and given a short trial, which would count for nothing at all...
"Oh God help me!" she cried out as the mob drew closer. She could hear their shoes pounding on the cobbles, smell the torches as they burned, taste the salt of her sweat and her vision was hazy from the dust that sprang up under her feet from the cobbles. She heard the crowd scream suddenly behind her and aided by a burst of adrenaline she ran faster.
"It's true! She really does call demons to her aid!"
That was most interpretable yell from the shocked crowd. Dracula swooped down low, Annora turned and her mouth opened in an O of shock. That was it. The combined loss of blood, sweltering heat, lack of energy, water and breath and shock at seeing the creature pelting towards her at full speed, talons outstretched was enough to make her faint for the second time in her life. She felt disgusted at herself. I'm pathetic, she thought. The last thing she saw was Joshua falling to the ground, sticky scarlet in blood and then everything went dark. The hell beast grasped her in his claws and Dracula bore her up into the sky and away over the land.
Can anyone guess what I'm going to ask...? Anyone? Anyone? Here's a clue, it's to do with the pretty lilac button in the left hand corner... :)